The Cubs appear to be positioned as well as any team in the majors to avoid dramatic changes in their farm system regardless of the final version of Major League Baseball’s plan to eliminate 25 percent of affiliated minor league teams across the baseball map.
None of the Cubs’ six affiliates are on a leaked list of 42 teams to be cut, which is “not surprising at all,” said Matt Dorey, the Cubs’ senior director for player development.
“I’d be actually shocked if any of our teams did appear on that initial list just because they’re so good,” he added, citing elite-level weight rooms, fields, clubhouses and overall stadium amenities that either were the results of upgrades in recent years or changes in minor-league affiliations.